如何通过Python访问Microsoft Exchange账户并读取收件箱（非SMTP）

Hey there! Let's walk through the best ways to access your Microsoft Exchange inbox and read emails with Python, without touching SMTP at all:

1. Exchange Web Services (EWS) via exchangelib #

EWS is a legacy but reliable API widely supported for both on-premises Exchange servers and older Microsoft 365 tenants. The exchangelib library wraps EWS in a clean, Pythonic interface—perfect for your core needs of accessing and reading inbox emails.

Steps to implement: #

• First, install the library:

  pip install exchangelib
  

• Then connect to your account and fetch inbox content:

  from exchangelib import Credentials, Account
  
  # Set up your account credentials
  credentials = Credentials(
      username='your_email@domain.com',
      password='your_password'  # Use an app-specific password if MFA is enabled
  )
  
  # Connect to the Exchange account (autodiscover handles endpoint detection)
  account = Account(
      primary_smtp_address='your_email@domain.com',
      credentials=credentials,
      autodiscover=True,
      access_type='delegate'
  )
  
  # Access the inbox and pull the latest 10 emails
  inbox = account.inbox
  for item in inbox.all().order_by('-datetime_received')[:10]:
      print(f"Subject: {item.subject}")
      print(f"Received: {item.datetime_received}")
      print(f"Sender: {item.sender.name} <{item.sender.email_address}>")
      print(f"Body preview: {item.body_preview}\n")
  

Pros & Cons: #

• Pros: Mature library with full Exchange feature access, works seamlessly with on-prem servers.
• Cons: Microsoft is phasing out EWS in favor of the Graph API, so long-term support isn't guaranteed.

2. Microsoft Graph API #

This is Microsoft's modern, recommended approach for accessing Exchange (and all Microsoft 365 services). It's the future-proof choice if you're working with Microsoft 365 tenants.

Steps to implement: #

• First, register an app in the Azure Portal to get authentication credentials (tenant ID, client ID, client secret). Grant the app the Mail.Read permission (delegated for user-specific access, application for service-level access).
• Install required libraries:

  pip install azure-identity msgraph-core
  

• Example code to fetch inbox emails:

  from azure.identity import ClientSecretCredential
  from msgraph_core import GraphClient
  
  # Configure authentication details
  tenant_id = 'your_tenant_id'
  client_id = 'your_client_id'
  client_secret = 'your_client_secret'
  
  credential = ClientSecretCredential(tenant_id, client_id, client_secret)
  client = GraphClient(credential=credential)
  
  # Fetch the latest 10 inbox messages with key fields
  response = client.get('/me/mailfolders/inbox/messages?$top=10&$select=subject,receivedDateTime,sender,bodyPreview')
  messages = response.json()['value']
  
  for msg in messages:
      print(f"Subject: {msg['subject']}")
      print(f"Received: {msg['receivedDateTime']}")
      print(f"Sender: {msg['sender']['emailAddress']['name']} <{msg['sender']['emailAddress']['address']}>")
      print(f"Body preview: {msg['bodyPreview']}\n")
  

Note: For user-specific delegated access, replace ClientSecretCredential with UsernamePasswordCredential.

Pros & Cons: #

• Pros: Fully supported by Microsoft, integrates with all modern 365 features, better security (MFA support, granular permissions).
• Cons: Requires Azure app registration upfront, which adds a bit of initial setup overhead.

3. IMAP Protocol #

Exchange servers typically support IMAP, a standard protocol designed specifically for retrieving emails. This is a simpler option if you only need basic inbox access without advanced Exchange features.

Steps to implement: #

• Use Python's built-in imaplib library (or higher-level alternatives like pyzmail):

  import imaplib
  import email
  from email.header import decode_header
  
  # Connect to Exchange's IMAP server (adjust for on-prem setups)
  imap_server = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL('outlook.office365.com')
  imap_server.login('your_email@domain.com', 'your_password')
  
  # Select the inbox folder
  imap_server.select('INBOX')
  
  # Search for all emails and fetch the latest 10
  status, messages = imap_server.search(None, 'ALL')
  email_ids = messages[0].split()
  
  for e_id in email_ids[-10:]:
      status, msg_data = imap_server.fetch(e_id, '(RFC822)')
      for response_part in msg_data:
          if isinstance(response_part, tuple):
              msg = email.message_from_bytes(response_part[1])
              # Decode email subject
              subject, encoding = decode_header(msg['Subject'])[0]
              if isinstance(subject, bytes):
                  subject = subject.decode(encoding)
              # Extract sender and body preview
              sender = msg['From']
              if msg.is_multipart():
                  for part in msg.walk():
                      if part.get_content_type() == 'text/plain':
                          body_preview = part.get_payload(decode=True).decode()[:200] + "..."
                          break
              else:
                  body_preview = msg.get_payload(decode=True).decode()[:200] + "..."
              
              print(f"Subject: {subject}")
              print(f"Sender: {sender}")
              print(f"Body preview: {body_preview}\n")
  
  # Log out of the server
  imap_server.logout()
  

Pros & Cons: #

• Pros: No API registration needed, simple setup, works with most email server configurations.
• Cons: Limited to email retrieval (no access to calendars, contacts, or other Exchange features), may have restrictions on some on-prem Exchange deployments.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Shishir Lakkadi